Nowadays, cell phones, digital cameras, and like digital products are generally equipped with display screens and lenses. However, as the display screens and the lenses are exposed on the outside of such digital products, they are likely to be soiled by airborne dust, which prevents users from viewing or capturing clear images with these digital products.
Conventionally, a wiping cloth is used to wipe off the grease, dust, etc. on the display screens or the lenses, and yet the cleaning effect of the wiping cloth is limited by the shape of the users' fingers, for it is impossible to insert a human finger into the small corners or recessed edges of the display screens and the lenses. As a result, the cleaning tends to be incomplete, and the grime remaining on the display screens and the lenses not only continues to compromise the quality of the images displayed or captured, but also keeps accumulating and hardening. When the display screens and the lenses are subsequently wiped again, the hardened grime may abrade their surfaces and leave permanent scratches thereon.
As a solution to the aforesaid problem, a cleaning pen has been developed, as shown in FIG. 1. The cleaning pen 1 has a columnar holding portion 10, which is protrudingly provided with an extended seat 11 at one end. The extended seat 11 has an end surface facing away from the holding portion 10 and provided with a wiping cloth 12 having a carbon coating. When the cleaning pen 1 is used to clean a lens, the wiping cloth 12 with the carbon coating can reach into the corners or recessed edges of the lens by virtue of the extended seat 11 so as to clean the lens thoroughly, thereby allowing users to once again view or capture clear images with the digital product mounted with the lens.
Nevertheless, market surveys have shown that the cleaning pen 1 has the following two major drawbacks in use:
1. Due to the properties of the materials, the wiping cloth 12 with the carbon coating is not suitable for cleaning display screens. Therefore, a user wishing to clean a display screen with the cleaning pen 1 has to buy another cleaning pen designed specifically for cleaning display screens, which is inconvenient.
2. As the wiping cloth 12 of the cleaning pen 1 wipes off the grime on a lens, the grime adheres to the wiping cloth 12. Moreover, the grime accumulated on the wiping cloth 12 increases with the number of use of the wiping cloth 12. Since the wiping cloth 12 of the cleaning pen 1 cannot be replaced directly, the user has no choice but to buy a new cleaning pen 1 when a certain amount of grime has accumulated on the wiping cloth 12, thereby preventing the grime on the wiping cloth 12 from falling on, attaching to, or even scratching the lens.
Now that the service life of the cleaning pen 1 cannot be effectively extended, new cleaning pens 1 must be bought on a regular basis. Besides, the risk of scratching is always present when using the cleaning pen 1 to clean a lens. Furthermore, as stated above, the carbon coated wiping cloth 12 is not suitable for cleaning display screens. In short, the cleaning pen 1 is still inconvenient to use and may cause trouble to its users.
Therefore, the present invention is intended to overcome the drawbacks of the foregoing cleaning pen while providing means of effectively cleaning display screens as well as lenses.